Winter is nearly over (in the Northern hemisphere), but the nights are still cold.

According to Wikipedia, hot water bottles are popular in "developing countries" and "the United Kingdom," though apparently they are rising stars in Japan as well.

Speaking personally, my hot water bottle is, quite simply, a necessity for at least four months of the year. However, I have noticed a great variety of attitudes to hot water bottles, and names that people give them.

Some people don't even use hot water bottles! This is a great shame; they are missing out on a lovely bedtime treat.

I would be very interested to hear your thoughts on the matter.

Astor

02-22-2010 07:32 PM

I picked the last option, even though I don't share my bed with a 'real live person'.

I do, however, share my bed (with a thicker quilt for winter) with a Dog and a very large Cat.

leXX

02-22-2010 07:38 PM

Even though I am indeed English, I am very much ashamed to say that I have never used a hot water bottle. Feel free to stone me for blasphemy.

Gabez

02-22-2010 07:49 PM

I think dogs and cats count as a real live person. They certainly produce a good level of heat.

leXX: never? Not even as a child? :~ What about your own children?

For anyone who hasn't tried a hot water bottle, find one, fill it with boiling water, and secrete it under your covers tonight -- you'll never look back!

jrrtoken

02-22-2010 07:59 PM

In my country, we can't afford hot water bottles.

Then again, we can't even afford water.

acdcfanbill

02-22-2010 08:58 PM

I'm one of those weird people who owns a blanket. 5 minutes of sheet coolness followed by a whole night of warmth. Crazy huh?

mimartin

02-22-2010 09:42 PM

I thought hot water bottles were only used by the very old. I remember my great-aunt having one, but she was like 90.

Of course on the Texas Gulf Coast it doesn’t get that cold. We have a large warm water bottle a few miles away called the Gulf of Mexico.

Mav

02-22-2010 09:51 PM

wtf is a hot water bottle?

Q

02-23-2010 03:47 AM

Two words: down comforter.

Ser'eck

02-23-2010 05:03 AM

Last option.

Being married comes with benefits!

JesusIsGonnaOwnSatan

02-23-2010 05:33 AM

I have used hot water bottles for quite a few years when i was a kid. I just called it my hot water bottle.

After using it to warm my back, i'd always stick it down at my feet. (man, the neck used to get magma hot.. could really singe you if you're not careful). It was always quite cold by morning, but i always kicked it away in my sleep.

Nowadays, i relinquish any moisture in my body and irradiate myself with an electric blanket. i call it: my electric blanket.

Drunkside

02-23-2010 07:47 AM

I have a blanket! And i get so hot under it every single night that i dont even use the whole piece of cloth... Even though its -20> degrees celcius during nighttime. Not inside our house. :xp:

K_Kinnison

02-23-2010 07:54 AM

I have never used a hot water bottle. I keep the heat on (or turned down), and even like to bundle underneath several handmade quilts. Even my cat likes to burrow underneath the covers when he sleeps

Pho3nix

02-23-2010 07:59 AM

Heck, I'm Finnish and I've never used one

Gabez

02-23-2010 08:45 AM

Wow, I'm really shocked that so many people don't use hot water bottles!

It's not just about warmth, you know: I like to hug mine (in a protective cloth covering) as I fall asleep. It's a teddy bear for grown ups.

Electric blankets: this is a subject that terrifies me. The danger of wetting the bed and electrocuting myself would make me so tense that I would wet the bed and electrocute myself.

Gurges-Ahter

02-23-2010 11:51 AM

This is totally foreign to me - I'm trying to decide if those who said they do use it are joking or not. I sleep with the fan on and rarely use any blankets.

Pho3nix

02-23-2010 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gabez
(Post 2708443)

It's not just about warmth, you know: I like to hug mine (in a protective cloth covering) as I fall asleep. It's a teddy bear for grown ups.

You need a woman bro

Jae Onasi

02-23-2010 12:42 PM

I have a man in bed with me every night, and sometimes my cat decides to warm up on top of us.
We use heating pads over here in the US, and they're waterproof, so no electrocution worries. :D

Trench

02-23-2010 12:57 PM

I like to stick it to Al Gore and his goons. :dev11: Heater and a light blanket works for me.

Jeff

02-23-2010 01:20 PM

This is the best poll LF has ever seen.

Though I admit I didn't even know what you were talking about when I read the poll and wondered if you actually drank hot water. Maybe I will try it out tonight.

ChAiNz.2da

02-23-2010 01:44 PM

Quote:

I have tricked a real live person to share a bed with me and they absorb my heat like a parasite.

Can you even still buy one in the states? :raise:
Haven't seen one in gawdz knows how long...

As for me, I'm one of those odd people that generate an exorbitant amount of body heat.. nothing more than a sheet and barely that at times.. otherwise it gets way too toasty.

Pick up anything on the floor between you and the bathroom first. :thmbup1:

Hallucination

02-23-2010 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChAiNz.2da
(Post 2708494)

As for me, I'm one of those odd people that generate an exorbitant amount of body heat.. nothing more than a sheet and barely that at times.. otherwise it gets way too toasty.

I wish I were like that, I've been told a few times that I feel like death.

@Topic: I use blankets and the fetal position as needed.

jawathehutt

02-23-2010 06:37 PM

I live on the top floor of my dorm. Even with the window open it still sometimes feels like the middle of summer despite being winter in Wisconsin. Aint physics grand! And when that fails I have a slanket. Snuggies for cool people.

Gabez

02-23-2010 06:47 PM

A slanket... why am I only just now finding out about this? Never heard the word before, but googling it shows the most amazing images.

According to the advert i've just seen, I believe they're called 'Snuggies' over here, and you can get them from ASDA or your nearest JML stockist.

Totenkopf

02-24-2010 05:07 PM

That's actually the first term I heard over here for them as well.

As for hot water bottles, rarely have ever used one.

LordOfTheFish

02-24-2010 08:14 PM

It's to hot where I live to use one of those things. I just pile on the blankets when needed.

Te Darasuum Mandalor

02-25-2010 04:51 PM

Ohh no! I HATE the snuggie! They come in 3 colors.

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Yucky yellow!

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retarded red!

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And blue!

I used to have a hot water bottle, but I only used it once in my life. I just drink hot stuff usually (tea, hot cocoa, and COFFEE) I also share a bed with my dog and I sometimes lay on my old duck pillow I named "Ducky" when I was three. That is usually during car rides though. Also, my aunt made me something called "The Quillow" which is half quilt half pillow. Much better than "The Snuggie" or "The Sack."

TSR

02-25-2010 05:13 PM

The whole concept is lost on me. I'm honestly shocked and alittle saddened that people still use them.

Dammit, 10 years ago i was told we'd have flying cars by now, and people are still using hot water bottles? I don't know what the hell i payed the maker, but when i bite the dust i'm going to demand my money back.

jawathehutt

02-25-2010 07:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Astor
(Post 2708702)

According to the advert i've just seen, I believe they're called 'Snuggies' over here, and you can get them from ASDA or your nearest JML stockist.

There's actually a difference between the two. The main difference is cost and quality. Slankets cost $15-20 more but are a lot bigger and warmer. And I've worn both, snuggies are as useful as wearing an old beat up towel for warmth. Slankets have the warmth of a very warm blanket and are much longer reaching, I'm a tall person and it still drags on the floor when I wear it like a robe. Also, slankets come in waaaaay cooler designs.
Like mine looks like this http://www.theslanket.com/images/large/pirate_LRG.jpg
Thats right, its a pirate slanket.
And they sell slankets on skymall, the mall of the Gods.

The Betrayer

02-26-2010 06:50 AM

What in the seven circles of hell is a hot water bottle?

Also, no Yoda love? :(

Te Darasuum Mandalor

02-26-2010 07:58 AM

Ahh, I see you read inferno. And BTW, a hot water bottle is something people who aren't married or are old to warm themselves up. Its like this plastic thing you fill with hot water from a kettle, and then you put a cover over it and sleep with it so it will warm you up.

Gamma097

02-26-2010 08:11 AM

I've never even heard of a hot water bottle until I read this poll. I use the heater and blankets.

Gabez

02-26-2010 09:43 AM

The advantage of a hot water bottle over heating is that it saves energy -- you warm up the area underneath your blankets/duvet rather than all of the outside.

Quote:

a hot water bottle is something people who aren't married or are old to warm themselves up. Its like this plastic thing you fill with hot water from a kettle, and then you put a cover over it and sleep with it so it will warm you up.

Well, modern hotty botties are actually made of rubber, so that they're flexible and huggable. I'm not sure it's only for peoiple who are old or unmarried, either; I imagine that even people who share beds can still be a little chilly under the covers on cold winter nights. Of course, you can survive well enough without extra heat under your covers, but is nice to be extra warm, and farting will only do so much.

Hot Water Bottles will also ease a bad back, or any other ache or pain. They are, I am told, sometimes used for "women's problems."

Here's an example to help the convince the hotty-haters that they are missing out: if you have a double bed, or a wide single bed, you can put your hotty botty in an area of the bed away from you, wait for it to get really mattress-meltingly hot, and then remove the hot water bottle, and roll into the warm area. Ah, bliss!

Quote:

The whole concept is lost on me. I'm honestly shocked and alittle saddened that people still use them.

Dammit, 10 years ago i was told we'd have flying cars by now, and people are still using hot water bottles?

Hot water bottle have nothing to do with progress. If we were all driving hover cars and living on the moon I would still like to feel extra warm and comfortable under my covers. It's a simple pleasure, like hearing the wind howl down your chimney, or the sound of rain on a tin roof.

Quote:

Also, no Yoda love?

I come from a faraway and arcane land known as "Mixnmojo." It is not our custom to have "Yoda love" there.